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4GB 'iPod Mini' and 15GB iPod
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4Gb for 249 or 15 Gb for an extra 50 bucks....hmm..... Ok it looks cute and is smaller ( the ipod sr. is hardly huge) , but i can't help wondering 'why'?
at this price point, i can't see this being the 'killer' product i was hoping it to be.
Xserves upgrade - great! but for me, this macworld keynote lacked any real 'wow' factor. Maybe I've just been spoilt by Steve-o's last few appearances.
at this price point, i can't see this being the 'killer' product i was hoping it to be.
Xserves upgrade - great! but for me, this macworld keynote lacked any real 'wow' factor. Maybe I've just been spoilt by Steve-o's last few appearances.
I guess there won't be any canilbalization...
IMHO, the 15 GB capacity bump for the bottom iPod was more exciting than the intro of the Mini. I was really excited unitl I saw it for $249. It it was $200, I think you'd have a winner. For me, 15 GB is my 'ideal' size, so now I can get a $299 15GB instead of the 20GB, won't waste money on the Mini. Not the 'shocker' I was expecting...still good, but not that good. Really expected a 2 GB and a 4 GB. As it stands now, the Mini doesn't have much incentive. They won't venture NEARLY as far into that lower market with this product offering as they seemed to be targeting.
IMHO, the 15 GB capacity bump for the bottom iPod was more exciting than the intro of the Mini. I was really excited unitl I saw it for $249. It it was $200, I think you'd have a winner. For me, 15 GB is my 'ideal' size, so now I can get a $299 15GB instead of the 20GB, won't waste money on the Mini. Not the 'shocker' I was expecting...still good, but not that good. Really expected a 2 GB and a 4 GB. As it stands now, the Mini doesn't have much incentive. They won't venture NEARLY as far into that lower market with this product offering as they seemed to be targeting.
pjkelnhofer
macrumors 6502a
Sorry Steve
At 2Gb for $99 I would have bought an iPod mini today.
At 2Gb for $149 I would have bought one after my next paycheck.
At 4Gb for $199 I would have saved a little and bought one in the next couple months.
At 4Gb for $249 NO THANK YOU.
I think they really dropped the ball on this one. My only hope is that soon (less than three months) there will be a price drop and the intro of a 2Gb.
$249 is still too much for the modern day walkman!
At 2Gb for $99 I would have bought an iPod mini today.
At 2Gb for $149 I would have bought one after my next paycheck.
At 4Gb for $199 I would have saved a little and bought one in the next couple months.
At 4Gb for $249 NO THANK YOU.
I think they really dropped the ball on this one. My only hope is that soon (less than three months) there will be a price drop and the intro of a 2Gb.
$249 is still too much for the modern day walkman!
I agree about 249 being too high for only 4 gigs. Yeah for only 50 bucks more you can get 15 gigs; you are only paying for the size and the purty colors. I think it would have been smarter to make it 99 bucks like people thought it would be, that way people with smaller music collections or that don't listen to music that much would be more inclined to buy them. And, they wouldn't lose business on the bigger iPods because there will always be people who need more space for their collections. Can you imagine how fast they would sell for 99 bucks??
The price unquestionably is a problem. Look back a few stories and notice that Rio announced a directly competing product today too. It's 4 gigs, and it's also $249. Competition with high end flash players? Not really. It's too expensive for that. It's more of a low end HD player My target price was under $200, and a two gig version would probably have hit that. With only the four gig version...I'm still going to be iPodless.
snahabed
macrumors regular
Ha!!! When I said to expect a $249 4GB, I got a snide remark:
I am so resisting the urge to say something gloaty and snide 🙂
I know Apple. The idea of a $179 4GB was laughable. How can you people like Apple enough to come to a MacRumors forum, and still foolishly expect a $99 iPod???
Do you same people also expect $10000 new BMW's?
Assuming that, at $70/2GB, the hard drive alone is $140 (or so), add marketing, R&D, the parts, and the profit, and $249 sounds about right to me. Yes, the capacity differential is high when compared to a 15GB at $299, but the iPod mini is for those people who want something smaller, better for the gym, running, or people who like colors, cute smaller things, etc., and don't need tens of GB's of space.
What baffles me completely is that they barely touched the normal iPod line. Who would pay $399 for a 20 when $299 gets you 15? And I am still waiting for a > 40GB size. My collection is over 50GB, and I HATE not being able to autosync 🙁
I am so resisting the urge to say something gloaty and snide 🙂
I know Apple. The idea of a $179 4GB was laughable. How can you people like Apple enough to come to a MacRumors forum, and still foolishly expect a $99 iPod???
Do you same people also expect $10000 new BMW's?
Assuming that, at $70/2GB, the hard drive alone is $140 (or so), add marketing, R&D, the parts, and the profit, and $249 sounds about right to me. Yes, the capacity differential is high when compared to a 15GB at $299, but the iPod mini is for those people who want something smaller, better for the gym, running, or people who like colors, cute smaller things, etc., and don't need tens of GB's of space.
What baffles me completely is that they barely touched the normal iPod line. Who would pay $399 for a 20 when $299 gets you 15? And I am still waiting for a > 40GB size. My collection is over 50GB, and I HATE not being able to autosync 🙁
wow. i was in shock watching the keynote. $249 for a 4 gig ipod? come on now. that won't help sales at all. with the student discount it's still $229. i think the $199 price point would've been much better. did anybody listen to the crowd's response when steve said $249? you could've heard a pin drop.
iChan
macrumors 6502a
i was ready to buy about 4 of these miniPods if they were priced at $150 or less...
I even told so many non-mac users about these new cheaper ipods and now i have ended up with egg firmly planted on face, thanks a lot SJ!!!
they will not reach the critical mass they are looking for at this price...
$169 seems to be a very sweet spot too... why??? just WHY????!!!!!
I even told so many non-mac users about these new cheaper ipods and now i have ended up with egg firmly planted on face, thanks a lot SJ!!!
they will not reach the critical mass they are looking for at this price...
$169 seems to be a very sweet spot too... why??? just WHY????!!!!!
I think the pricing is just right.
Due to the hard drive technology of the bigger iPods they can only get down to a certain size. While they hold a great deal more music, they are also bigger than the new minis.
What does this mean?
It means that people who want to use their iPod to exercise should go for the mini. It holds a LOT of music, and is the perfect size. This is why Apple created the arm band.
I know this because my sister was going to get an Ipod, but it was too big and heavy for her to wear on an arm band and those back holders are just silly in my opinion.
I think Apple did a good job in striking at the high end flash market, and the mini is going to be a great success.
Due to the hard drive technology of the bigger iPods they can only get down to a certain size. While they hold a great deal more music, they are also bigger than the new minis.
What does this mean?
It means that people who want to use their iPod to exercise should go for the mini. It holds a LOT of music, and is the perfect size. This is why Apple created the arm band.
I know this because my sister was going to get an Ipod, but it was too big and heavy for her to wear on an arm band and those back holders are just silly in my opinion.
I think Apple did a good job in striking at the high end flash market, and the mini is going to be a great success.
jxyama
macrumors 68040
Re: Stop complaining
apple is obviously there to make money. however, just pricing things more doesn't guarantee that you make more money.
many of us are saying that the minipods are expensive in relative to the lowest ipod. i feel that at this price, minipod will not attract much of new customers - instead, some of the customers eyeing the lowest ipod will change their mind for the portability/color factor and buy the minipod. that will not make apple more money. it's just cannibalizing.
the whole point of offering lower priced ipod was to get "oohhh, i want an ipod but it's too expensive" customers to buy one. at this price, that won't happen as much as if the "cheap" ipod was offered at $200 instead...
i'm not advocating that things simply be made cheaper - that kind of wishful thinking has no merit. however, i feel in this case, the price differentiation doesn't seem to match the spec differentiation and will result in sales cannibalism.
apple is obviously there to make money. however, just pricing things more doesn't guarantee that you make more money.
many of us are saying that the minipods are expensive in relative to the lowest ipod. i feel that at this price, minipod will not attract much of new customers - instead, some of the customers eyeing the lowest ipod will change their mind for the portability/color factor and buy the minipod. that will not make apple more money. it's just cannibalizing.
the whole point of offering lower priced ipod was to get "oohhh, i want an ipod but it's too expensive" customers to buy one. at this price, that won't happen as much as if the "cheap" ipod was offered at $200 instead...
i'm not advocating that things simply be made cheaper - that kind of wishful thinking has no merit. however, i feel in this case, the price differentiation doesn't seem to match the spec differentiation and will result in sales cannibalism.
Moxiemike
macrumors 68020
I have a feeling these will be $179 by April and have a higher capacity brother to go with them at $229 or something
I think initially they'll play off of the excitement and the color scheme and the "it" factor of the ipod and then drop the price. By xmas 2004, they'll be $139 or something. 🙂
Personally, I don't like the design of the wheel. But the style is nice.
I think initially they'll play off of the excitement and the color scheme and the "it" factor of the ipod and then drop the price. By xmas 2004, they'll be $139 or something. 🙂
Personally, I don't like the design of the wheel. But the style is nice.
compare the price to the newly announced rio nitrus (that's the 1.5 gig listed, but they announced a 4 gig today at $250) or compare to the 4 gig creative muvo2 at $579.
it might be higher than what everyone wanted, but it's dead on or less than competitors in the same market space. it's not often that you can say that about apple.
and let's not forget the original ipod. the single biggest complaint was it's too expensive, didn't seem to stop it from becoming the king of mo3 players.
look for the ipod mini to drop to $200 sometime mid to late 2004, i would guess either the developer conference or seybold.
it might be higher than what everyone wanted, but it's dead on or less than competitors in the same market space. it's not often that you can say that about apple.
and let's not forget the original ipod. the single biggest complaint was it's too expensive, didn't seem to stop it from becoming the king of mo3 players.
look for the ipod mini to drop to $200 sometime mid to late 2004, i would guess either the developer conference or seybold.
ZildjianKX
macrumors 68000
Glad others are feeling like I am. If they made a 2 gig $149 model I might have picked one up just for jogging, and kept my 40 gig as my main player...
The only nice thing is that it can charge via USB 2.0... which all iPods should be able to do... I don't see why they can't just modify the cable to allow for this anyways for current iPods.
Another big factor is battery life. The current battery life of new iPods just sucks, and I'm guessing this model won't be much better. Plus the current firmware is buggy as hell and Apple still hasn't fixed it... 🙁
The only nice thing is that it can charge via USB 2.0... which all iPods should be able to do... I don't see why they can't just modify the cable to allow for this anyways for current iPods.
Another big factor is battery life. The current battery life of new iPods just sucks, and I'm guessing this model won't be much better. Plus the current firmware is buggy as hell and Apple still hasn't fixed it... 🙁
If Apple wants to compete with the flash based players they should release a flash-player, not another hard-disc player. But I think they are much sexier than the bigger ones because of the aluminium finish.
Must have used the Toshiba, not the Crucible
I think that they must have used the Toshiba 1" drive rather than the Crucible drive announced yesterday. Otherwise how could they announce a product this highly priced?
At around $200 they would sell a HELL of a lot more of these things. . .
I think that they must have used the Toshiba 1" drive rather than the Crucible drive announced yesterday. Otherwise how could they announce a product this highly priced?
At around $200 they would sell a HELL of a lot more of these things. . .
Powerbook G5
macrumors 68040
I like the design and the form factor, not to mention the aluminum case. It may still be a bit high, but considering I just have under 300 songs, I don't need a 15 gig iPod and my parents owe me $250, and this would be perfect since I have been unable to think of a way they could pay me back until now.
This has to be the most disappointing thing to start out a 20 year anniversary and a New Year.
A 249.00 Ipod; and they are very ugly. It's obvious Apple doesn't make a hell of a lot of money on Itunes; they make up for it on the High end Ipods; this 249.00 Ipod speaks volumes.
Apple is comfortable with the 30 percent market share and they love the profits from the higher end ipods. They new Rio was releasing a 249.00 mp3 player and simply made the ipod mini to curb the sales of the Rio player. I'M HOPING THAT WAS IT AND NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND CAUSE; THEY NEEDED TO DO ALOT BETTER THAN THIS......... Sorry
Who in their right mind see's value in 50.00 less for almost 75 percent less the capacity of the next model Ipod. 75 percent less capacity and it's only 50.00 cheaper.
Don't get me wrong; the 15gb Ipod is the better part of this news here. That rocks. Apple isn't ready to destroy the market they created by giving everyone something they could afford. They are clearly happy with the 30 percent market share; Again the 249.00 Ipod isn't the good news today it's the 15 GB Ipod for 299.00; now to the other thread for the only other significant news (rockband) and errrrr; that's about it!
A 249.00 Ipod; and they are very ugly. It's obvious Apple doesn't make a hell of a lot of money on Itunes; they make up for it on the High end Ipods; this 249.00 Ipod speaks volumes.
Apple is comfortable with the 30 percent market share and they love the profits from the higher end ipods. They new Rio was releasing a 249.00 mp3 player and simply made the ipod mini to curb the sales of the Rio player. I'M HOPING THAT WAS IT AND NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND CAUSE; THEY NEEDED TO DO ALOT BETTER THAN THIS......... Sorry
Who in their right mind see's value in 50.00 less for almost 75 percent less the capacity of the next model Ipod. 75 percent less capacity and it's only 50.00 cheaper.
Don't get me wrong; the 15gb Ipod is the better part of this news here. That rocks. Apple isn't ready to destroy the market they created by giving everyone something they could afford. They are clearly happy with the 30 percent market share; Again the 249.00 Ipod isn't the good news today it's the 15 GB Ipod for 299.00; now to the other thread for the only other significant news (rockband) and errrrr; that's about it!
This is so stupidly priced! $50 difference is a joke for 11 Gigs. I was ready to buy 2 at $199! One can also buy a Dell 15 Gig MP3 player for $249 so how are they competitive?
I'm puzzled by the pricing strategy.. And on top of that the mini does not have the sizzle of the IPOD. Don't get me wrong it is cool but anodized alum is not quite as cool as white IPOD with polished back.
I'm puzzled by the pricing strategy.. And on top of that the mini does not have the sizzle of the IPOD. Don't get me wrong it is cool but anodized alum is not quite as cool as white IPOD with polished back.
Sayhey
macrumors 68000
Didn't he say they were going after the high-end flash market? And didn't Rio just announce a similarly priced player? I'm betting it doesn't hold a candle to the iPod mini. The important part is that Apple is making it first step into the low end market while maintaining its innovative lead. This price will drop and lower end players will come from Apple as the price of the components come down. Patience, guys - you want it all now! 😉
NeatGekko scooped you all
I want to be the first to point out that NeatGekko scooped everyone on this. He had the size and the price correct.
He posted it in these forums but everyone harassed him. I didn't. Charging too much for a product is so beleivably Steve Jobs that, well, it came true.
Do you think Steve will ever learn? Cube? G4s? Mini iPods? No he won't. Apple products won't be reasonably priced until Steve Jobs leaves Apple.
I want to be the first to point out that NeatGekko scooped everyone on this. He had the size and the price correct.
He posted it in these forums but everyone harassed him. I didn't. Charging too much for a product is so beleivably Steve Jobs that, well, it came true.
Do you think Steve will ever learn? Cube? G4s? Mini iPods? No he won't. Apple products won't be reasonably priced until Steve Jobs leaves Apple.